The Europe I backed in 1975 has disappeared

When we last held a referendum on Europe in 1975, like many businessmen I strongly supported membership. The buccaneer in me felt that to be part of a bigger bloc would give us the advantages that American companies already enjoyed in their home market.

Over the following decade, my working life became increasingly international through my involvement with British Airways, taking control of the shipping company P&O and acting as a senior adviser to Margaret Thatcher’s government on industry and finance.

P&O, whose founders served in the Napoleonic Wars, was particularly strong in the Far East and the Middle East and in the 1980s expanded strongly into the USA and Europe. In the early 1990s, as president of a group representing European ship owners, I spent a lot of time in Brussels.

So this is an area I know well, but I believe the time has now come to leave the organisation that turned into the European Union.

Why have I changed my mind? The original aims of a common economic area have been lost. The European Commission is the sole initiator of policy and the ambition of most in Brussels is a fully united Europe.

Decisions have been taken that directly affected the businesses I was involved in, without those affected having any say in the matter. I once received a draft copy of a press release revealing decisions on shipping issues that were supposedly being considered only 10 days later by transport ministers. It was drafted in Berlin and Paris.

Once, the UK could have blocked measures that worked against our national interest; but over the years the extension of majority voting has diluted national influence. Where is this going to lead in 25 or even 100 years from now?

If we vote to Remain on June 23, does anybody truly believe that Angela Merkel and François Hollande will happily hand over the EU steering wheel to Britain so we can guide it towards reform? The reality is that we will be even weaker than we were during David Cameron’s so-called renegotiations.

Ever since England’s direct ties with continental Europe ended with the loss of Aquitaine and Calais 500 years ago, our role has been to protect our own interests against the rise of powerful competitors. Historically these have included Spain, France, Holland and, of course, Germany.

All you need to know about polling day

01:47

A Swiss friend told me recently that he thought this country is the best in the world in which to live. We have a truly accountable democratic parliament with a totally independent head of state, and an independent judiciary with a police force to back up the rule of law on behalf of the individual. We are rich in culture, history, arts, music and our capital is a wonderful city.

But he then asked: will this still be true 25 years from now when my grandchildren have grown up?

He suggested that the increase of immigration could mean that more than one fifth of our population will have originated from a totally different cultural background, changing this country for good. World history is all about migration, and I write as someone whose family came to this country in the 19th century. But if mass immigration is not carefully planned there will be social strife, not just here but also on the continent.

Our 40-year membership of Europe is just a short period in this country’s history. I do not consider that “leaving” is the correct term for wanting to end our membership of the EU. It is really about reasserting control over our own destiny. We have been involved in an experiment that cannot succeed without dramatic change, which Brussels, sadly, has refused to contemplate.

Power today is no longer about possessing territory and heavy industry, nor is it even dependent on having a large population. It is increasingly a corollary of the extraordinary advances in technology and the expansion of global trade. Economic strength is vital.

EU Referendum: what is the European Union and how does it work?

02:26

One lesson I have learnt in international commerce is as valid today as it ever was. Trade is a natural human activity, as natural as communicating with each other. It should not be dictated by government bureaucracy. That is why this country has always believed that free trade and freedom are inextricably linked.

Sir Winston Churchill said: “We are with Europe but not of it. We are linked, not compromised. We are interested but not absorbed.” But he also believed we should be “sponsors of Europe”, not participants in a

united state.

I have no doubt whatsoever that we can more than hold our own outside the EU, working closely with our strong long-term relationships worldwide, particularly with the Commonwealth, the USA and, of course, the EU. The vote on June 23 is the opportunity for this nation to recover the independence that has been central to its great history.

Lord Sterling of Plaistow was executive chairman of P&O from 1983 to 2005